Monday, August 16, 2010, 06:25 pm

Apple supply manager pleads not guilty to $1M+ in kickbacks

By AppleInsider Staff

A global supply manager for Apple accused of accepting more than a million dollars in kickbacks from Asian suppliers pleaded not guilty Monday in a federal court.

Paul Devine appeared in a San Jose, Calif., court on Monday with his lawyer to enter the plea, according to Reuters. The 37-year-old was arrested on Friday and is accused of sharing confidential information with Apple's suppliers to aid them in negotiations with the company.

Devine is also facing a civil suit from Apple, which alleges that he received more than $1 million bribes and payments for his assistance to six overseas suppliers. He has worked for the company since 2005.

Pegatron, the parent company of Kaedar Electronics, admitted Monday that it did pay brokerage commission to an intermediate trading company between 2005 and 2008. The incident occurred before Pegatron acquired Kaedar, which has supplied iPod packing boxes to Apple since 2005.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Pegatron said Kaedar's business arrangement with Apple was introduced by the same intermediary company that accepted the commission. A spokesperson said that no money was every paid to an individual, and the incident will not affect business deals between Pegatron and Apple.